OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Carroll County Commissioners Open Session — March 12, 2026: Pensions, Parks Code, Housing, Contracts, and FY27 Positions

County Commissioners & Boards — Thursday, March 12, 2026
BodyCarroll County, Maryland
SessionCounty Commissioners & Boards
DateThursday, March 12, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:13:12

Transcript — Verbatim
0:27

And express my gratitude for the time and dedication that they have given to this process and to bring to you this um recommendation today.

0:37

So first we have Tim Burke.

0:39

So if they could raise their hand so that I think you will know who Tim Burke is.

0:43

Tim Burke, the county attorney is the director representative.

0:47

We have Aaron Kelly, the HR representative.

0:50

Corey Hardinger as the management and budget rep, Ashley Treese as the Enterprise Fund Rep, Cara Bolton from IT as a member at large, and then we have Chris Weinbrenner from Economic Development as a member at large.

1:06

I am the facilitator of the committee and also a non-voting member.

1:20

Okay, next.

1:23

Twenty-nine commissioner positions were requested through this budget process.

1:27

Position requests from our governmental partners, such as the Sheriff's Office, State's Attorney, and Courts are evaluated by the budget office.

1:34

The six committee members carefully evaluated these positions and rank them, taking into consideration meeting mandates, workload, and customer service.

1:45

Every role you hear about today was ranked as either a high priority position or a medium priority position.

1:52

The high priority positions are included in the committee's recommendation for funding.

1:57

We understand the fiscal constraints that the county is always facing, but we hope that if you decide to add positions during this budget process that you will take you would act on the committee's recommendation.

2:11

Okay, so the highest ranked positions or the recommended positions.

2:15

We have two lieutenant training safety officers for DFEMs.

2:19

They requested four, uh one for each shift.

2:22

The committee felt that um two was a good a good start uh for this program.

2:27

However, it's in the it's in the board's hands to decide how many positions uh would be uh included in in in the budget.

2:35

Uh economic development workforce development is an admin assistant.

2:40

This is a position that um was previously grant funded, and the grant funding is going away.

2:46

So it is an existing position.

2:48

Then we have two call takers for emergency management and communications and an administrative assistant for citizen services in their aging and disabilities division.

3:01

The next group of positions are medium ranked positions, and you'll also be hearing from them today for your consideration for funding.

3:09

Uh we have two existing part-time rangers or Piney Run Park that Reckham Parks would like to see go to full-time positions.

3:16

Um there's eight firefighter paramedic or floater positions that DFEM is requesting.

3:22

Economic development workforce development has an operations and resource manager, an existing position that is grant funded that they would like to see uh county funded.

3:32

We also have a training and operations tech uh for 911 that emergency management and communications is um seeking funding for.

3:42

Uh so what I will do is first um you'll be briefed by the directors and their staff on the positions that are recommended.

3:51

Then the directors who have medium priority positions will have an opportunity today to discuss those positions for funding consideration.

3:59

So the first person that I will question.

4:05

Um you used to be there, maybe, Ted.

4:09

So some of the budgets that we're going to see have additional positions in already?

4:19

Or not.

4:20

Are these addition, are these more that they think they didn't get, or are these what they want from that that are more than last year?

4:28

I believe if there's any positions in the budget, it would be an operating impact of like of a new building, but I don't believe, Ted.

4:35

If I don't believe there's any new positions recommended in the budget.

4:41

We should look at these as the new positions.

4:43

Yes, absolutely.

4:44

Not additional.

4:45

Yes.

4:45

Yes.

4:46

Generally speaking, we would not add positions to the budget except like Deb said, um like uh in connection with the state's attorney building, we've added facility positions, just recognizing that that will have need to happen.

5:02

Thanks.

5:03

Okay.

5:03

So I'm going to move over there, but I'm going to uh have Chief Robertson and Deputy Chief Supko come and talk to you about their defense positions.

5:18

Thanks, Dan.

5:20

Good afternoon, gentlemen.

5:22

Good afternoon, Commissioners.

5:23

Good afternoon.

5:25

And uh we're going to talk about the position request for the safety and training lieutenant, and I'm going to defer to Chief Sepco, who's put together a great presentation, and we'll both be here to uh entertain any questions that you have.

5:39

Thank you for allowing time for us to provide justification for the positions that FIRE and EMS are requesting for fiscal year 2027.

5:47

This is a new position in addition to our current staffing.

5:50

We are requesting an additional supervisor on duty at the lieutenant rank, and that person will be responsible for safety and training programs.

6:01

This one position, due to our 2472 hour shift schedule will actually require the creation of four new jobs.

6:10

That person will be responsible to lead several different things.

6:15

And I think the best way for us to justify this position today is to actually categorize the things that we are going to challenge that job with into three categories.

6:23

Those categories are incident safety officer, health and safety program administration, training compliance, and program development.

6:34

Incident safety officers, the first thing that we're going to test this role with.

6:37

This person will be on duty for 24 hours, have 72 hours off, and while they're on duty, they will be our responding safety officer to offer high profile incidents, such as structure fires, motor vehicle collisions with rescue.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Safety██████████████████████████████████████38%
Personnel Matters█████████████████████21%
Elderly Services████████████12%
Workforce Development████████8%
Parks and Recreation█████5%
Disability Rights███3%
Veterans Affairs███3%
Fiscal Sustainability███3%
Budget Equity Analysis██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Carroll County Board of County Commissioners Open Session — March 12, 2026

On Thursday, March 12, 2026, the Carroll County Board of County Commissioners convened an open session at 9:00 a.m. and resumed at 1:00 p.m. at the County Office Building, Room 311, Westminster, Maryland. The morning agenda covered pension plan amendments, a legislative update, recreation and housing public hearings, grants and contract awards, the FY27 transportation plan, and a forest harvesting briefing. The available transcript captures only the afternoon Position Review Committee presentations; no minutes were provided, so final action on most morning agenda items is not documented.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comment appears in the available transcript. Public comment was permitted on the legislative update, recreation projects, Chapter 94, the FY26 Housing Annual Plan, grants, Detention Center purchase, elevator upgrade, transportation plan, forest harvesting, and position review items, but no testimony was captured in the transcript.

Discussion Items

  • Pension Plan Amendments: The Department of Human Resources requested approval to add a Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) to the Carroll County Public Safety Pension Plan (Chapter 35, Sections 35-60). A public hearing had been held February 26, 2026; Chapter 35 was last updated June 2025. Staff recommended adoption.
  • Legislative Update: Legislative Liaison Pam Meister was scheduled to provide a legislative update; no details are in the transcript.
  • Spring 2026 Recreation and Parks Self-Help Projects: Staff recommended approval of 11 projects totaling $80,482.80 in county funding, $47,793.28 in community funding, and $128,277.08 in total funding. The Recreation & Parks Advisory Board approved the requests at its February 25 meeting. Projects included batting cage replacement, fencing, ball field dirt, netting, storage shed repairs, an irrigation well, and park improvements.
  • Chapter 94 Parks and Recreation Code Amendments: A public hearing was held on proposed code changes addressing model rockets and unmanned aircraft, smoking/vaping and tobacco prohibitions, domestic animals, trash receptacles, paragliders/ultralight aircraft/hot-air balloons, and operating or soliciting private business in parks. Staff recommended closing the hearing and approving the amendments, or keeping the record open 10 days.
  • FY26 Housing Annual Plan: A public hearing was held on the Carroll County Bureau of Housing Annual Plan for submission to HUD. The county is beginning its second year of the 2025–2029 five-year plan and administers 796 Housing Assistance Vouchers: 100 Non-Elderly Disabled, 33 Family Unification, 15 VASH, 119 Mainstream, and 529 Tenant-Based Rental Assistance. The plan had been displayed for 45 days; no significant changes were reported. Staff recommended closing the hearing and approving submission.
  • FY27 Youth and Family Engagement Diversion Program Grant: Staff recommended applying for and accepting an $87,581 state award, with no county cash match, to continue behavioral health case management for youth at risk of or involved with the Department of Juvenile Services. Carroll County Youth Service Bureau (CCYSB) was the recommended vendor.
  • Behavioral Health Diversion Contract Award: Staff recommended awarding the DJS contract (26-F-4-25/26) to CCYSB for $87,581. Three proposals were received; Lartey Wellness Group also submitted a proposal, and Luxe Kissed Collectives was deemed non-responsive.
  • Detention Center Engineering/Repair Work: Staff recommended approving $69,500 for Kruse Integration for engineering and repair services on Detention Center doors, including replacement of non-functional components, wiring repairs, and continuity testing. The purchase was single sourced after the initial functional audit.
  • Citizen Services Building Elevator Upgrade: Staff recommended awarding the elevator car upgrade contract to Quality Elevator Company for $269,559. Four bids were received; Quality Elevator was the lowest responsive, responsible bidder. The elevator was installed in 1983 and the upgrade would address code and safety compliance.
  • FY27 Annual Transportation Plan: Staff recommended approving the plan and accepting the grant award. Carroll Transit System provided over 105,000 passenger trips in FY25 and over 56,000 trips in FY26 to date, operating 37 vehicles. The preliminary FY27 operating expense total was $3,484,310; the projected-award revenue column in the briefing paper totals $3,484,690, a $380 apparent discrepancy. The capital program included preventative maintenance and four replacement vehicles.
  • Forest Harvesting on County-Owned Property: Staff briefed the Board on a Forest Stewardship Plan covering 504 acres in the Union Mills area (North Sawmill, West Sawmill, and Spiegle). Of that acreage, 123 acres were recommended for potential select harvesting, with estimated net revenue of $207,000. Staff noted unquantified management and invasive species costs and recommended proactive public discussion before any program proceeds. No action was required.

Position Review Committee Recommendations (Afternoon Session)

  • Deputy County Administrator Deb Effingham presented the Position Review Committee's FY27 recommendations. The committee reviewed 29 commissioner position requests; six voting members ranked positions based on mandates, workload, and customer service. Positions were categorized as high or medium priority.
  • High-priority recommended positions: two Lieutenant Training/Safety Officers for Fire/EMS (of four requested; one lieutenant position requires four jobs because of 24/72 shifts); an Administrative Assistant for Economic Development Workforce Development (previously grant-funded); two 32-hour/week 911 call takers for Emergency Management/Communications; and an Administrative Associate for Citizen Services Division of Aging and Disabilities.
  • Medium-priority positions presented for consideration: converting two part-time Piney Run Park rangers to full-time; eight Fire/EMS float positions; an Operations and Resource Manager for Workforce Development (previously grant-funded); and an Emergency Communications Training and Operations Technician.
  • Fire/EMS officials supported all four safety/training lieutenants, emphasizing OSHA/MOSH/NFPA compliance, liability prevention (citing a $31.5 million judgment elsewhere), cancer-risk reduction, decontamination, accident investigation, and 24/7 incident coverage. They said two positions would likely be scheduled for day work and would leave nights and weekends uncovered.
  • Workforce Development staff supported county funding of the administrative assistant and operations/resource manager. They stated the WIOA grant has funded workforce development for over 35 years, the department has lost five positions over four years, and grant funds should be preserved for direct services rather than administrative overhead.
  • Emergency Management/Communications staff supported the 911 call-taker positions, citing call-volume heat maps, a need to widen the candidate pool, and repeated requests over three years. They also requested a training/operations technician, citing 672 records requests in 2025, about 1,000 hours per academy class, and 520 hours of quality assurance work handled by one assistant manager.
  • Citizen Services staff supported the administrative associate for Aging and Disabilities, citing 28 grants and programs, five senior and community centers, Maryland Access Point designation since 2009, and projected growth in the 60+ population from 46,000 in 2020 to nearly 65,000 by 2045.
  • Recreation and Parks Director Bob Hicks supported converting the two part-time rangers to full-time, describing current hours as about 1,850 per year versus 2,080 for full-time and noting retention benefits.
  • Fire/EMS officials requested all eight float positions, reporting 157 mandatory holdovers in 2025, 26 of which created 24-hour shifts, and about 72,000 hours of leave used by staff. They estimated the eight float positions would cost about $950,000 in salary and fringe, but said overtime alone creates fatigue and service-reduction risks. They proposed paying out emergency leave credit to save nearly $300,000 and using lower-pay-grade EMT and driver-operator floats to save about $70,000.

Key Outcomes

  • The Board received the Position Review Committee recommendations and heard presentations; no vote on position funding appears in the transcript.
  • The only motion captured in the transcript was to adjourn, which was seconded and passed by voice vote with no opposition.
  • No minutes accompanied the provided materials, so the final approval status of the morning staff-recommended motions is not confirmed.

Meeting Transcript

And express my gratitude for the time and dedication that they have given to this process and to bring to you this um recommendation today. So first we have Tim Burke. So if they could raise their hand so that I think you will know who Tim Burke is. Tim Burke, the county attorney is the director representative. We have Aaron Kelly, the HR representative. Corey Hardinger as the management and budget rep, Ashley Treese as the Enterprise Fund Rep, Cara Bolton from IT as a member at large, and then we have Chris Weinbrenner from Economic Development as a member at large. I am the facilitator of the committee and also a non-voting member. Okay, next. Twenty-nine commissioner positions were requested through this budget process. Position requests from our governmental partners, such as the Sheriff's Office, State's Attorney, and Courts are evaluated by the budget office. The six committee members carefully evaluated these positions and rank them, taking into consideration meeting mandates, workload, and customer service. Every role you hear about today was ranked as either a high priority position or a medium priority position. The high priority positions are included in the committee's recommendation for funding. We understand the fiscal constraints that the county is always facing, but we hope that if you decide to add positions during this budget process that you will take you would act on the committee's recommendation. Okay, so the highest ranked positions or the recommended positions. We have two lieutenant training safety officers for DFEMs. They requested four, uh one for each shift. The committee felt that um two was a good a good start uh for this program. However, it's in the it's in the board's hands to decide how many positions uh would be uh included in in in the budget. Uh economic development workforce development is an admin assistant. This is a position that um was previously grant funded, and the grant funding is going away. So it is an existing position. Then we have two call takers for emergency management and communications and an administrative assistant for citizen services in their aging and disabilities division. The next group of positions are medium ranked positions, and you'll also be hearing from them today for your consideration for funding. Uh we have two existing part-time rangers or Piney Run Park that Reckham Parks would like to see go to full-time positions. Um there's eight firefighter paramedic or floater positions that DFEM is requesting. Economic development workforce development has an operations and resource manager, an existing position that is grant funded that they would like to see uh county funded. We also have a training and operations tech uh for 911 that emergency management and communications is um seeking funding for. Uh so what I will do is first um you'll be briefed by the directors and their staff on the positions that are recommended. Then the directors who have medium priority positions will have an opportunity today to discuss those positions for funding consideration. So the first person that I will question. Um you used to be there, maybe, Ted. So some of the budgets that we're going to see have additional positions in already? Or not. Are these addition, are these more that they think they didn't get, or are these what they want from that that are more than last year? I believe if there's any positions in the budget, it would be an operating impact of like of a new building, but I don't believe, Ted. If I don't believe there's any new positions recommended in the budget. We should look at these as the new positions. Yes, absolutely. Not additional. Yes. Yes. Generally speaking, we would not add positions to the budget except like Deb said, um like uh in connection with the state's attorney building, we've added facility positions, just recognizing that that will have need to happen. Thanks. Okay. So I'm going to move over there, but I'm going to uh have Chief Robertson and Deputy Chief Supko come and talk to you about their defense positions. Thanks, Dan. Good afternoon, gentlemen. Good afternoon, Commissioners. Good afternoon.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI
TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com